Adventures in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Being huge Harry Potter fans, it made perfect sense to end the year in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida where we had an amazing time.
In order to embark on our adventure, since Diagon Alley is located at Universal Studios, and Hogsmeade at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, we purchased one-day ticket passes. For $147 per person, we got unlimited park-to-park access to both Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. To avoid the long walk from the parking lot to the parks, we paid $30 for the day for a preferred parking spot.
Diagon Alley (Universal Studios)
Our Harry Potter adventure started at Universal, where we headed to the streets of London. Parked across the street from King’s Cross we saw the Knight Bus with Stan the conductor and its iconic shrunken head.
After chatting and laughing with Stan and the dreadlocked head, we crossed the street and behind a wall we entered Diagon Alley. 
We then headed to the locker building at the far end and placed our bags in the fingerprint secured lockers prior to boarding the Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts 3D ride.
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts 3D ride
At the far end of Diagon Alley near the lockers, beneath the animated fire-breathing dragon, we found Gringotts bank and joined the winding line for the thrilling 3D ride. 
Once inside Gringotts, we walked through the marble lobby, where we watched the busy working goblins come to life. The line was moving steadily without delays, and before long, we climbed aboard the Escape from Gringotts ride.
Our exciting journey put us in the middle of all the action of underground hollow passages while crossing through the dangerous vaults. Along the way, we encountered Harry, Ron, Hermoine and escaped the rage of wicked villains like Voldemort, Bellatrix, trolls and other beasts that were blocking our safe return to Diagon Alley. We were impressed with the technology that was used to bring this ride to life and it felt like we were part of a story connected to book five in the Harry Potter series.
Shopping in Diagon Alley
After we escaped Gringotts, we decided to go shopping. As you might expect, shopping in the Harry Potter land is kind of magical. The first shop that we visited was Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes which has magical candy based on the Harry Potter books. We bought some chocolate frogs, U-No-Poo, Nosebleed Nougat and Bertie Botts Every Flavor (jelly) Beans – all candy inspired treats from the books.
In the heart of Diagon Alley, we also found Ollivander’s wand shop which had the most essential wizarding supply. With boxes of wands stacked to the ceiling, each one awaited its wizard and some with interactive powers that allow you to do real magic throughout both parks. In the end, French Wizard Fleur Delacour’s wand found its way home with us.
Across from Ollivander’s, we entered Madam Malkin’s robe shop where we found Hogwarts school uniforms and items inspired by its four houses. We tried on some of the robes and felt like we were part of Harry’s school. Here, we also picked up a couple of Griffindor notebooks.
Located in the dark Knocktum Alley, we were able to create some magic with our interactive wand and explored Borgin & Burkes store which was full of interesting dark objects. We ended up buying a glass skull, great for Halloween.
After running around Diagon Alley for a while, we decided to stop and get something to eat at the Leaky Cauldron 
where we recharged our batteries with some bangers & mash, and fish & chips. We were also able to find Butterbeer sold throughout the park and were given a choice of drinking it frozen, hot, or cold. We opted for the cold one, which tasted pretty good.
Hogwarts Express
With our park-to-park admission tickets, we were able to catch a ride on the The Hogwarts Express that connects Diagon Alley (Universal Studios) to Hogsmeade village (Islands of Adventure). So we headed to Platform 9-3/4 (King’s Cross) to board the Hogwarts Express steam engine train that would take us from London to Hogsmeade.
Inside the train station, we joined the long line of passengers and when we reached the front, a Hogwarts prefect directed us to our passenger compartment. Outside our window, we encountered several characters that were featured in the movies bringing parts of Harry Potter’s school to life. When we reached Hogsmeade, we then made our way towards the castle.
Hogsmeade (Islands of Adventure)
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
In Hogsmeade, we headed straight to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to embark on the Forbidden Journey with Harry Potter. We entered the castle gates and after we joined the line, we walked through the castle corridors. While there, we visited Dumbledore’s office, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Gryffindor common room, and the Room of Requirement before joining Harry Potter and his friends on an amazing adventure complete with magical creatures above the castle grounds. 
Dragon Challenge
Only a couple of us had the courage to go on the Dragon Challenge which consists of two high-speed color coded (blue & red) roller coasters complete with inversions, a zero-g roll, Cobra roll, two corkscrews and vertical loops. During the 2-minute and 25-second flight, the dragons rotate and twist in an intermingling roller coaster chase across the sky. If you’re brave enough, you can also go back and ride the other “dragon” – each one is a completely different ride.
Flight of the Hippogriff
Those of us who didn’t have the stomach for the Dragon Challenge, we joined the line for the Flight of the Hippogriff – the family friendly coaster. While walking in line, we passed Hagrid’s hut where we were prompted to follow his instructions on the proper way to handle a Hippogriff (a Hippogriff is a magical creature with the head of a giant eagle and the body of a horse). Afterwards, we embarked on our “training flight” in the wicker baskets that had us spiraling around the pumpkin patch and plunging past Hagrid’s hut.
After our Harry Potter adventures, we took a stroll down City Walk which is full of restaurants, bars and shops. A great way to end the year.
Useful tips:
1. Hold your receipt separate from the tickets. We happened to lose one of the admission tickets, but were able to replace it at guest services after showing them proof of payment.
2. Do your favorite rides first thing in the morning when the park opens to avoid waiting in long lines.
3. If you don’t want to walk too far from the car to the park, preferred parking is available for about $30 dollars for the day.
4. There is also a Universal Express pass that allows you to skip the long lines.
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